


Before Rebellion

by MissFantasyLand



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: (only a tiny bit), Angst, Character Death, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Deviates From Canon, Friendship, Headcanon, Heartache, Loneliness, Nicknames, Pre-Rogue One, Rebel Alliance (Star Wars), Sad, Short Story, Teenagers, Trauma, long fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27483163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissFantasyLand/pseuds/MissFantasyLand
Summary: A look into Cassian Andor's life before being recruited by the Rebel Alliance, spanning over the course of 16 years. From childhood to adulthood.
Kudos: 1





	1. 4 Years Old

**Author's Note:**

> I first came up with the idea for this fic in 2017-2018, before the Disney+ Cassian show had been announced. I wrote chapters back then and now I'm finally publishing it 2 years later after ages of convincing myself it wasn't completely terrible 😭
> 
> Cassian is one of all time my favourite characters and it always made me sad how we didn't have much content surrounding him or know much about his life outside of the events of Rogue One. So I wrote this sort of short story fic about his life from age 4 to age 20. 
> 
> This is purely my own imagining of Cassian's backstory and it does deviate from his pre-established backstory a little bit (what little of it there is). The part of his life where he joins a Separatist Cell as a child isn't in here. I don't think I even knew about that when I wrote this but it doesn't matter because this is fan fiction after all! 
> 
> Of course, everyone is welcome to creating their own backstory for Cassian (and I encourage it tbh because until the show comes out this is all we have 😂) But this is mine and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ❤️

He sat outside in the back yard. The wind rustled through the trees and the sun beat down.

The temperature was high that day, even for Fest where the summers were long and sometimes unbearably hot and the winters dark and harsh.

Surrounding him were about 15 wooden toys; all of them engaged in a fierce dog fight out amongst the stars. Giant star cruisers, small fighters and agile planet hoppers were among the ranks.

Cassian Andor held 1 star cruiser in his tiny hand and rammed it into a small fighter, which he held in the other. "We've been hit!" He yelled, pretending to voice the pilots in the toy fighter and, with a loud bang, it crashed to the ground.

This is how he distracted himself on that humid day, he distracted himself from the distressing matters which were taking place in his house. Cassian knew what was going on, he wasn't stupid, he even wanted to stay in the house as it was happening, but his father had ushered him out back to play instead. So, he did.

He played for what seemed like hours and hours when finally, he looked up and noticed that his father, a tall man with brown hair and crinkles around his eyes, had appeared in the doorway, a grave expression on his face. Without being told, Cassian stopped playing immediately and stood up, walking over to his dad. He extended his arm to Cassian and placed it on his shoulder as he steered him into the house.

A man, no, a doctor came out the door leading to his mother and father's room. He looked down at Cassian with a sympathetic look on his face and then curtly nodded at his father. The doctor then turned around and left, leaving Cassian and his dad in the hallway alone.

"Why is he leaving? Isn't he here to make Mama better?" Cassian asked in a small voice as he looked up at his father.

Jeron Andor didn't do anything except stare at some random point in the distance. He didn't even spare a glance for his young son. "Not this time." He said.

Breathing out deeply, Jeron turned Cassian around with both hands placed on his slight shoulders. He knelt down and looked at his son directly in the eyes. They were the same colour as hers; a soft brown. That thought didn't make the situation any easier.

"Cassian, it's time that you said goodbye."

Cassian said nothing, instead looking to the floor. He didn't cry but his brow did scrunch up into a despairing expression. He turned and looked at the door to the bedroom for a few seconds before walking towards it and tentatively opening it.

His mother, Eva, lay in bed with her eyes closed, breathing in and out very slowly. Her skin was extremely pale, dark rings covered her eyes and her dark hair was thin and wispy. Cassian found it difficult to see his mother like this, especially since she seemed to be in full health only a few months ago. Her skin wasn't extremely pale back then, in fact a few months ago her skin glowed, her eyes were bright, and her hair was full and soft. Most importantly a smile always graced her face, a smile that brought joy. Cassian couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his mother smile. He couldn't remember the last time he saw anyone around him smile.

As if she knew he was there, his mother stirred in her bed and slightly opened her eyes. "Is that my little star pilot I see?" She said in very weak voice. She sounded so weak that it seemed that the very act of speaking drained her.

Cassian moved closer and Eva gave a faint smile. "There's my brave boy. Cassian, I'm not going to be here for much longer but I want you to know that I'm so proud of you and that Mama loves you very, very much," She stopped for a while and took a few more deep breaths, regaining the strength to carry on. "I'll always be with you." Eva gestured very slightly to the bracelet around Cassian's left wrist.

She had made it for him before he was born by weaving pieces of long grass strands together and in the middle a dark stone, native to Fest. It was tradition on Fest to make a bracelet for your unborn child so you could give it to them once they were born. It's so that no matter where they are, they'll look at it and think of home. Despite Fest not being a wealthy planet, with most people living in poverty, family meant a lot to the people who lived there, and this was how they showed they cared. Cassian had never taken off his bracelet, not once.

As he looked at it now, he couldn't appreciate it more. Cassian hadn't realised that this was pretty much the only thing he had to remember his dying mother by and all of a sudden, he found himself getting very upset very quickly as tears swelled in his eyes. He didn't want his mother to die, he wanted her to be alive and well, he wanted her to be with him and Papa like it had always been.

"There now, don't cry," his mother said softly. She'd somehow found the strength to reach and cup Cassian's face, wiping a tear away with her thumb. Even in her final moments, Eva made sure to comfort her son. "You'll be alright. I'll be alright. Make sure you keep an eye on your father for me, my little star pilot." And then her hand dropped away, her eyes closed, and her breaths became further and further apart.

Cassian was too fixated on his mother to notice that his father had come into the room, once again placing his hands on his son's shoulders.

They both stood there until her last breath and the few seconds after she passed seemed to be the longest seconds Cassian had ever lived through. Tears streamed down his face as he turned around and buried his face into his father. Jeron did his best to comfort him but found it difficult to keep it together himself.

Now it was just the two of them and even though Cassian had his father to help him and comfort him, in those long seconds after his mother died, he'd never felt more alone.

* * *

It wasn't his fault. He didn't do anything wrong.

Cassian sat outside of his teacher's office that break time, his father inside talking to her.

He glanced down at the cut on his knee which he'd gotten after another kid had pushed him onto the floor. This only happened after Cassian had forcefully shoved him first. But it wasn't his fault, the other kid had asked for it.

The door to the office then opened and his father walked out. Cassian kept staring at his knee.

Jeron put his hand underneath Cassian's chin, forcing him to look at him; he wasn't angry though. Instead he gave his son a mournful expression. "What am I going to do with you, eh? Come on, let's get going."

He patted Cassian lightly on the head as he pushed himself off of the chair and took his father's hand. Cassian could only look to the floor.

"Are you mad at me?" He piped up.

Jeron sighed. "No, I'm not mad. However, I would like to know why you pushed another kid today."

Cassian glanced to the side before answering. "He said bad things about Mama. That it was my fault she got ill."

Jeron looked down at Cassian but he did not look back. It had been a few months since Eva had died and he knew that Cassian was still struggling to come to terms with it. He put on a brave face but Jeron knew that on the inside he would often crumble under the weight of it all.

"It's not your fault, Cassian. It's no one's fault. Did you apologise to the other kid?" Jeron asked.

"Yeah, but I secretly didn't mean it."

Jeron could've laughed but thought that it would send the wrong message to his son. "Cassian, there are always going to be people that have something different to say and you need to learn to not get angry every time you disagree with them. Your mother would've wanted you to make the right choice, understand?"

Finally, Cassian looked up at his dad. He spoke after a few moments. "I understand."

Jeron smiled slightly and gave Cassian a quick side hug. "Besides you don't need to worry about those kids anymore."

"Why not?" Cassian asked.

"Because we're leaving Fest."

Cassian's brow scrunched up and he became very confused. "Leaving? Where are we going?"

"To Carida. It's a planet in the Colonies. Something's come up and I've been asked to move there. Think of it as an adventure." 

Cassian did try to think of it as an adventure but the idea of uprooting and moving somewhere else was frightening and new and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not; but then he looked down do his wrist and saw his mother's bracelet; _There's my brave boy._

Eva would've wanted him to be brave. So, Cassian looked at his dad and nodded as if to say he was okay with this sudden uprooting.

And who knows? Maybe it would be like an adventure, at 4 years old anything could be seen as exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope it wasn't too sad for you guys 🙁
> 
> I ended up creating names for Cassian's parents because they haven't been canonically named so far so I hope you liked them! (I always imagined Cassian getting his middle name from his father 😊)
> 
> I also hoped you guys liked the detail with the bracelet. Again, we don't know much about Cassian's home planet of Fest so I waned to try and flesh out the world a little bit. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and hopefully you stick around for more! If you could also leave a comment or a kudos that would really mean a lot to me 🥺
> 
> Till next time!  
> 


	2. 6 Years Old

Cassian crouched down on the stairs as he listened to his father speak in the kitchen.

He was supposed to be asleep and he knew it was late, but he couldn't help but eavesdrop on his dad's conversations with his friends. Cassian thought it was really interesting, despite the fact that most of the time all they talked about was politics and a bunch of names and places that Cassian didn't recognise.

But, if he was lucky enough, they'd talk about fights and battles which was the real reason why Cassian crouched on the stairs every night to listen in. To hear his father talk about battles was almost as fun and exciting as when he played battles with his toy ships. He thought of it as if he were a spy, listening in on every detail of the enemy's conversation.

However, Cassian was oblivious to the seriousness of these battles and didn't fully understand why they were happening. He saw them being reported on the holo’s every single day; his father shook his head every time these reports came up. The words 'Clone Wars' were often thrown around a lot but those words meant nothing to a 6-year-old. All it looked like to Cassian was a bunch of people fighting in the skies and on other planets, which to him seemed awfully exciting.

"The Republic clearly have no idea that they're doing, they're just dragging us further and further into this mess. We need to get rid of these clone troopers." Jeron said. Cassian could hear the frustration in his voice, though he didn't know why he was frustrated.

"Easy, Jeron." A voice Cassian couldn't name spoke up. "You know we won't solve anything by throwing rocks. We need to be patient, wait for an open window."

"But the protesting clearly isn't helping our case at all! Sooner or later they're going to start getting violent." Jeron replied, raising his voice slightly.

"If we attack Republic military we'll be arrested for sure. You know that can't happen, some of us have families."

At that point Cassian figured they were talking about him. He couldn't exactly put his finger on why this topic made his dad so angry, but he started to wonder if some of this anger was wearing off on him too.

With all the things he'd heard after his nights of 'spying' the Republic didn't exactly sound like good people, neither did the clone troopers. Cassian sometimes saw them on his way to and from school, patrolling the streets. They held blasters and seemed pretty imposing and with everything he'd heard his dad say about them it made him stay away.

Jeron clearly had a distain for the Republic and he never agreed with anything they did or said, and Cassian could see that the war upset him. He almost felt bad that he found excitement in hearing about the battles since he knew how his father felt about it. Cassian wished he could do something to help him feel better.

Then an idea came to his mind almost instantly. Cassian thought back to a comment one of his father's friends made. _We won't solve anything by throwing rocks._

Well, an adult couldn't. But maybe a child could.

* * *

The next day as Cassian walked to school, he made a clear effort not to look as though he was up to no good.

He kept his head down only giving passing clone troopers quick glances. He could definitely get away with this and if anyone tried to stop him, he'd make a break for it. Cassian figured that he was small and agile enough to escape any trooper's grasp if they tried to grab him; he was always fast at running anyway.

Still keeping his head down, Cassian looked to the ground to try and find things he could throw. Finally, he found a few rocks that would probably cause a reasonable amount of damage. He leaned down, picked one up and tested its weight.

_It's good enough._

Looking around he saw a small cluster of clone troopers about 5 ft away from him. Without giving it a second thought, Cassian threw the rock with all the strength he could muster.

It hit one of clone troopers right on his helmet and, surprisingly, almost knocked him to the ground. All the other troopers turned to Cassian's direction and a few started to approach.

"Hey you!" One of them shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"

Something told Cassian that he should run away but he fought this instinct and instead stood his ground. He bent down to pick up another rock and threw it, harder this time. It hit an approaching trooper hard enough to make him fall backwards and land on the ground with a loud thud.

Cassian's heart was pounding in his chest and he could practically feel the adrenaline in his veins.

"Hey! Kid! Stop throw-" A trooper began to say but was instantly cut off by a rock hitting him in the visor.

Cassian spun round to his right and saw another kid, a kid who went to his school, standing poised as if he was the one who threw the rock. He exchanged looks with Cassian and with a somewhat grin on his face picked up another rock off of the floor and threw again. Cassian did the same and all of a sudden, this small cluster of clone troopers were being bombarded by rocks.

A crowd had gathered at this point, some clearly finding it amusing that these clone troopers were being taken out by little kids. Others disapproved and shouted at them to stop but this only encouraged Cassian to keep going.

Eventually more kids started joining in throwing rocks at advancing clone troopers. It got pretty chaotic and as the crowd got bigger more troopers invaded the area.

Cassian then saw one of the troopers grab an older kid and forcefully drag him away. The gathering crowd didn't like this, and things took a slightly violent turn. This was when Cassian knew he'd done enough, and he began to run. He ran until he found was far away from the crowd and the noise coming off it had faded.

He made a sharp turn into a small alcove which he used to catch his breath. He almost heaved as he tried to take big gulps of air to slow his breathing down. The adrenaline in his system was beginning to wear off now and Cassian began to calm down.

He still couldn't quite believe he'd done that, and he couldn't believe that a small part of him enjoyed it. Cassian had always been told that violence was wrong, but he wondered if his dad would be pleased to hear what he did today, to hear that his son was taking action. His father always complained about the clone troopers so would he really find a problem with his son throwing rocks at them? Cassian wasn't sure but he hoped that his father would be proud of him, nonetheless.

And, if he was really lucky, Cassian might be able to join his father and stand by his side in protest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter. Leave a comment or kudos? 
> 
> Till next time! ❤️  
> 


	3. 12 Years Old

Cassian kept close to his father's side. They were just on the verge of approaching Carida Academy and the crowd was surging.

To Cassian, it seemed as though thousands of people and other beings had come to protest against the new expansion of the Republic military, the very thing people like himself and his father had fought against during the Clone Wars.

For years Jeron protested against Republic army techniques and he encouraged his son to do the same. He disapproved of the clone troopers, so Cassian threw rocks and broken bottles at them. He wanted to those stupid politicians in the Senate to see that what they were doing was a mistake so he brought Cassian along to his protests so that he could see the effects that war and the military had on everyday civilians.

The sound coming from the crowd was almost deafening and it started to thin out slightly as everyone splintered off and fed into a huge courtyard outside of the front of Carida Academy. Troopers stood around the edges as a way to remind the crowd not to get too out of control and officers stood at the steps of the academy as they tried to stop people from storming the entrance way.

Because there were so many people, Cassian and Jeron ended up being pushed and shoved out of the way so they found themselves further and further away from the academy itself and more on the outskirts of the courtyard.

"Don't mind these people, Cassian. They're just on edge that's all." Jeron shouted so that Cassian could hear him over the rest of the crowd. It was as if Jeron was almost apologising for everyone else's actions even though Cassian thought it was pretty unnecessary to shove people out of the way. After all this was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

But it seemed that a lot of other people in the crowd didn't think it was supposed to be a peaceful protest. They were shouting all sorts of profanities at the officers and troopers, pushing and shoving them. This only angered the officials more and it ended up in them pushing and shoving back.

The shouts seemed to get louder and the shoves got more and more aggressive. Tension was rushing through the crowd and Cassian could sense that something more than a peaceful protest was going to happen. With every second that passed Cassian became more and more apprehensive.

All of a sudden there was an uproar near the steps of the academy as the crowd gathered around a Rodian who had been knocked to the floor by one of the officers guarding the steps. Someone else in the crowd near him jumped at the officer responsible and punched him in the face. Troopers in the surrounding area raised their blasters and this made the crowd go crazy.

Many of them were shouting that the Rodian wasn't doing anything and that the officer shouldn't have touched him. Others were trying to get the troopers to lower their blasters as they thought that it was an overreaction. Either way this made Cassian feel anxious about the situation.

"Don't worry, son," Jeron interjected, noticing the look of concern on Cassian's face. "These types of things always happen at protests. Even the peaceful ones."

Cassian couldn't understand how this protest could be deemed as 'peaceful' when there was all out fighting between the protesters and the officials. Cassian looked at his dad, who didn't seem at all fazed by the fighting and was instead yelling at the officers to leave them alone. Cassian began to feel slightly panicked.

_I have a bad feeling about this._

Suddenly, the sound of blaster fire filled the air and for one split second the crowd went silent.

Someone, Cassian didn't know who, had gotten shot. You could've heard a pin drop it was so quiet, but the temporary silence was disturbed as the crowd became like animals in that very moment and the protest turned from peaceful to an all-out riot.

Screams, shouts and more blaster bolts sounded as Cassian held onto his father; part of the crowd began to run away from the academy and out of the courtyard.

Cassian found himself to be in the middle of a huge crowd of people, desperately clinging onto Jeron's arm. He clenched his eyes closed as he was knocked about by the hundreds of people pushing past him, trying to get away from the blaster fire.

Without saying anything, Jeron tried to move himself and Cassian out of the courtyard but there were so many people they could barely move.

And, just like that, Cassian lost grip of his father's arm and was carried away from him by the crowd.

"Dad! Dad!" He yelled, as the crowd dragged him to the courtyard entrance, his father disappearing further into the crowd and closer to the academy.

"Cassian!" He heard his father yell.

But his shouts, along with his face, got smaller and smaller until Cassian could no longer hear his father's voice or make him out in the huge crowd of panicked people. He'd lost him.

But Cassian didn't have time to process this as the world suddenly turned a brilliant white and a wave of heat knocked Cassian onto the floor with a heavy blow, knocking the air out of his lungs. His ears were filled with a sharp ringing and all he could see were blurs.

The only word that came to mind was: _Explosion_.

A bomb had gone off near Carida Academy and the surrounding area was now engulfed in flames, rubble and smoke. Cassian was lucky enough to be a foot away from the blast zone, but he was still badly injured.

He lay on the cold, stone floor struggling to keep his eyes open and lift his head off the ground. Everything moved in slow motion and his vision was still blurry. The ringing in his ears was dying down but he still couldn't hear much besides muffled screams and shouts. Cassian managed to lift himself off the ground and he turned back to face the academy.

Carida Academy was no more. The entire courtyard had been obliterated and Cassian couldn't make out anybody there.

 _Dad_.

Thoughts of his father suddenly rushed into his mind as Cassian stared at the burning academy, the harsh smoke making his eyes burn.

He gathered all of his strength and stood up, making his way to the courtyard. He fell back to the floor in an instant though because as soon as he put pressure on his right leg it sent a shooting pain down it making him unable to walk. But he had to try and find his father.

Again, Cassian tried to walk over to the courtyard whilst doing his best to ignore the crippling pain coming from his right leg.

 _I have to find him. I have to. Please be alive. Please_.

He had almost reached the courtyard when someone, an emergency protocol personnel, stopped him.

"Young man I need you to stay back." She said, gripping his arm.

"No, you don't understand, my dad, he's over there." The desperation in his voice was loud and clear. Cassian refused to believe the possibility that his father might no longer be alive.

Bodies of others who had not been further away from the blast were strewn across the floor, some in violent, unnatural positions. This didn't faze Cassian. He didn't care. All he cared about was finding his father.

"I'm sorry but it is unsafe for you to go over there, so I need you to stay back." The emergency personnel insisted.

Other emergency protocol workers raced towards the scene with droids amongst them, aiming to try and find any survivors of the blast.

"No! My dad's there! Please just let me find him, please!" Cassian pleaded, his voice cracking as tears filled his eyes.

As he struggled against this women's grip, he saw the emergency workers start to pull people out underneath the rubble and it started to become blatantly obvious that hardly anyone in the courtyard had survived the blast. The truth was staring Cassian dead in the face and as the realisation dawned upon, he felt weak at the knees and finally collapsed onto the floor, the emergency personnel still holding his arm.

There was no doubting it. His father was gone.

A huge sob escaped him as he sat slumped on the pavement. Cassian couldn't even begin to process his emotions. It was like someone had stabbed him over and over again, it was like someone was gripping his throat tight enough that no air could leave him. He found it hard to breath as his crying became almost hysterical.

The last time he had felt like this was when he had lost his mother 8 years ago. The hole she'd left behind was suddenly ripped open even more when Cassian knew his father had perished in the explosion.

When she had died, he had his father to count on, to help him cope but now he had no one. No one to help him, no one to comfort him. Everyone he had ever had or cared for in this entire galaxy was dead.

All Cassian could remember in that moment was how alone he'd felt in those seconds after his mother had passed and how the loneliness he felt in the seconds after losing his father were even worse as now, he truly had no one.

* * *

  
He waited for the opportune moment.

The port was so full of cargo ships and passenger transports that Cassian knew there must've been a ship he could sneak onto, possibly even sneak into the cargo hold.

People passed him but no one payed attention. He was used to people ignoring him at this point.

Cassian had lost count as to how much time had passed since the bombing of Carida Academy, but he knew it had been at least less than a year.

The authorities never found out what caused the explosion, but many people still liked to speculate. Some thought it was one of the rioters, some thought it was one of the troopers or officers and some thought it was an outside terrorist who only wanted to cause people pain. In the end, Cassian decided he didn't care who set it off.

He found himself caring less and less about things in recent months, though it didn't surprise him. The explosion at the academy had left him fatherless and soon after, Cassian was left to fend for himself on the streets. He slept rough and struggled to keep warm at night; Carida wasn't exactly known for its warm temperatures. Carida also wasn’t known for its child welfare either. Cassian easily could’ve been forced into an orphanage after his father died, but he knew it wasn’t any better in there than it was on the streets.

He was so tired, all he had wanted to do was stop. He wondered if it was possible to live an entire lifetime before you turned 13, he certainly felt like he had. Cassian was only 12 but he felt much older, experience made him older and soon he became a hollow shell of a human being.

Every now and then he'd find himself wanting to go sleep and to never wake up again, but then he'd glance down at his left wrist and see the handmade bracelet his mother made for him. He'd stare at the black stone in the middle and think his mother, his father, home.

His mother had wanted him to be brave, but he found it so difficult to be that when he truly felt as though he was at his lowest point.

But one day, after aimlessly staring at the black stone, something went off inside Cassian's head. He realised he couldn't live like this anymore. He knew that if he didn't do something he would live and die on the streets of Carida. This isn't what his parents had wanted for him.

That's when Cassian knew he has to get off of this planet. He had no idea where he would go but he knew that any place was better than here.

That's when he found himself trying to sneak on board one of the ships in Carida port but so far there were no windows of opportunity.

Cassian had been sitting and watching the port for almost an hour when he saw a small freighter's cargo hold unguarded and the hatch left open. He knew this was his chance and he made a break for it, hoping no one would stop him. Cassian reached the cargo hold no problem and he quickly scurried inside. Luckily for him there were loads of crates and containers that he could hide behind, so he chose a corner that entirely concealed by cargo crates.

Cassian settled down in his corner as best as he could, taking note of the heat ventilator next to him providing a warm breeze. About 5 minutes later he felt the ship's engines start up and the sudden lurch into hyperspace. Cassian had no idea where the ship was going but he didn't care.

He had finally got off Carida and away towards what was hopefully something better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really feel like this fic is just sad 😭😂
> 
> But tbh Cassian does seem like the kind of person who would have a tragic past. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Maybe leave a comment or a kudos?
> 
> Till next time! ❤️


	4. 16 Years Old

The marketplace was swarming for the time of day.

Sellers stood behind their stalls shouting all different kinds of things, trying to get people to buy their goods. The crowd was almost surging as people and aliens of all different types of species rushed around, looking from one stall to the other, purchasing and making small chit-chat with the vendors.

He exactly couldn't remember what the name of the marketplace was, heck he couldn't even remember the name of the planet he was on; He'd lost count about 3 planets ago. Perhaps it was somewhere in the middle-rim, he thought.

Cassian stood in a shadowed alcove watching the people in the marketplace from across the street. But he wasn't alone. Sitting on the floor next to him was Aria, his friend and traveling companion.

He had met her about a year ago when she saved him from almost getting arrested after he got into a public fight. She jumped in as soon as a stormtrooper approached Cassian and came up with some fake story to explain why he had punched the then cowering Twi'lek.

While the cover up story escaped him, Cassian never forgot the real reason; the Twi'lek had tried to steal his mother's bracelet, the one she'd made for him when he was born. It was pretty much worthless, but the black stone made it look like a valuable to any random thief. Of course, Cassian wasn't having any of it and punched him square in the jaw. That's when the stormtroopers came and then Aria stepped in. As the crowd dispersed, Cassian stared at Aria. " _Why did you help me? You don't know me_."

Aria had shrugged, " _It looked like you needed the help_."

And after that, they stuck by each other's side, looking out for one another, jumping from planet to planet. He was quiet and calculating whilst she was good in a fight and quick with a blaster. They made a pretty good team and Cassian had started to view her as if she were his own sister. They worked well together, which is exactly what they were doing in that very moment.

"What about her?" Cassian queried, gesturing to a girl on the other side of the street in the marketplace.

Aria looked up from her blaster which she had been tinkering with for the past 20 minuets. "Her? Didn't think dainty, blonde girls were your type." She said, her steel grey eyes glancing back down to her blaster.

"That's not what I meant." Cassian replied, side eyeing Aria.

She didn't look back at him. "I know. Still, it's fun to talk about."

"No, it isn't," He said shaking his head. "Besides, I don't have a type.

A smile on Aria's face appeared, a big smile that spread from ear to ear. She laughed. "Everyone has a type and you, my friend, definitely do."

Cassian folded his arms and looked back into the street. The blonde girl was still at a stall in the market, examining some jewellery.

"Whatever." He mumbled under his breath, but loudly enough so that Aria could hear him.

"Ah, yes, I can picture it in my head as we speak," Aria said in an almost sing song voice. "For starters, she'd definitely be a brunette and her eyes would be as green as the forest moon of Endor. Also, she'd be able to hold her own. Someone who could probably kick your ass if she really wanted to."

"Oh yeah? Then what's your type?" Cassian retorted.

Aria strapped her blaster back onto her holster and stood up. She was quite small, despite her fiery personality, her short hair such a dark shade of blue it was almost black.

She shrugged. "Me? Well I like dainty, pretty girls. So that." She said, and she nodded towards the girl across the street. Cassian looked over.

"You really think you can get her?" He asked.

"I can try," with that, Aria started walking across the street to the marketplace, the blonde girl in her sights.

"Watch my back and wait for my signal." She turned back and said to Cassian as he watched her go.

Aria made her way over to the stall and "bumped" into the girl. Cassian watched carefully as Aria stumbled and then put on a smiley facade, apologising and then extending her hand to introduce herself. Of course, she would use a fake name; makes it less easy for someone to track them afterwards.

It was like watching a scene out of a holo-vid: Aria acted very courtly and, judging by her facial expressions, very flirtatious as well. The blonde girl seemed to respond to it well, even if she didn't fully understand Aria's intentions. The owner of the stall, a small Talpini, rolled his eyes at the scene and turned his attention to another customer.

A few minutes passed and Aria was still talking to the girl. Cassian was leaning out from the alcove in the alleyway, waiting for Aria's signal when he felt a presence approach him. He moved his attention away from the market and turned to his right only to see a slight woman standing next to him.

She was smaller than Cassian and had wrinkles engraved on her face, although she was probably no more than 40 years old. Her clothes weren't anything special, just a plain brown hood and tanned kaftan, but Cassian did take note of the bright pieces of beaded jewellery she wore around her neck and wrists.

"Excuse me young man but could you spare a few credits?" The woman spoke in a quiet and vulnerable voice. It then became apparent to him that she was a beggar.

Cassian shook his head. "I'm- I'm sorry, I don't have any money." Which wasn't actually a lie.

The woman's face almost crumpled up into a distasteful expression and Cassian was about to apologise again when, without breaking eye contact, the woman grabbed Cassian's forearm.

The action startled him and for one fleeting moment, Cassian genuinely thought this small woman was going to attack him. But then he came to his senses quickly enough as realised that there was no way this woman could take him down and he tried to twist his arm out of her grasp, which only made her hold onto him tighter.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He almost shouted at her but was conscious of the crowd of people not far away from the alleyway he was in and though best not to draw attention to himself. He stared at the women's hand gripping his forearm and then back at her. She hadn't moved her eyes not even once.

All of a sudden, the woman pulled down on Cassian's arm so that he was level with her, and she leaned in. Her face pulled into a desperate expression. "Don't trust the eyes who are above you for they are wicked and deceitful," She said all of this in almost a whisper as Cassian became confused and slightly intrigued. What did she mean by ‘the eyes’?

There was a pause as the woman pursed her lips and her expression became less stern. She spoke again. "Fulcrum."

Cassian narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, "Fulcrum? Fulcrum, what does that mean?" He asked, but the only thing the woman did next was abruptly let go of his arm. She pulled up the hood of her cloak and started to back away from Cassian and soon she was walking away, back down the alley way.

Without thinking, Cassian began to go after her. He still had no idea what she'd been talking about and his mind flooded with questions.

_What the hell was Fulcrum?_

But then Cassian remembered. _Aria._ He turned around back to the street. Aria was still standing there talking to the girl at the stall. She lifted her hand up to shake her hair. That was the signal.

Cassian didn't move, instead he looked down the alley way again to see if he could see the woman, but she was gone and there was no sign of her brown cloak in sight. He looked back to the marketplace and made eye contact with Aria. It was if he could hear her thoughts: _"Come on!"_ And Aria widened her eyes at him.

Once again Cassian looked down the alley but decided to forget about it. _Leave it_ , he thought to himself. _That women was just some deluded beggar_. And with that he snapped out of his thoughts and focused all his attention to the situation in front of him.

Cassian breathed out and walked back out of the alleyway. He looked out into the road to make sure nothing was coming and then crossed, eyeing a small purse sitting in the pocket of the blonde girl's silver dress.

After exchanging another quick glance with Aria, he gave her a curt nod. Once Cassian reached the stall, he subtly eyed then reached out for the purse before the girl even acknowledged that he was there and then he purposefully knocked her shoulder. This garnered her attention and she turned around with an annoyed look on her face.

"Excuse you! Why don't you watch where you're going next time?" She said, in a high voice that made Cassian wince.

He himself put on a facade and he gave the girl a boyish smile, trying to act innocent. "Sorry," Cassian laughed slightly, putting his hands up. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

The girl gave him an angry look and side eyed him as she turned back to Aria. "Sorry, where was I?" She continued and with that Cassian knew that this was where he walked away. Aria would follow him soon after.

He had only moved four stalls away when he heard someone run up to him from behind and then almost jump on his shoulders, knocking him off balance slightly. It was Aria and put her left arm around Cassian's shoulder.

"So? Did you get it?" She asked.

Cassian took the girl's purse out of his inner jacket pocket and chucked it in Aria's direction. She caught it with both hands and tested its weight. Opening it a smile spread across her face. "Nice one. This will keep us going for a while." And she tucked the purse away in her own jacket pocket.

They carried on walking, Cassian's hands in the pockets of his trousers. He thought about telling Aria of his encounter with that strange women. Maybe she knew what Fulcrum was?

Cassian opened his mouth to speak when he heard a loud cry come from behind them. Both himself and Aria turned around with a curious expression only to be met with the sight of the blonde girl from the jewellery stall looking in the now empty pocket of her dress. Two stormtroopers approached her, obviously having heard her wailing and she shouted loud enough so that the whole marketplace could hear her, "Someone's stolen my purse!"

Cassian saw her talk to the stormtroopers and then the girl turned and pointed directly at them.

"Oh, shit." He heard Aria breath out and he could tell that she had become tense all of a sudden.

This wasn't the first time they'd pickpocketed; in fact, they'd been stealing things for ages it became almost second nature. To them it was as easy as falling asleep, but Cassian knew that Aria hadn't got a perfect track record and he knew she'd been in trouble with stormtroopers and authority in general many times before meeting Cassian. She'd also spent a considerable amount of time in detention cells for resisting so being caught at this stage in the game wasn't ideal, especially since the stormtroopers would not only arrest Cassian for thievery but they'd also recognise Aria and arrest her too.

The stormtroopers began to make their way over to Aria and Cassian and Cassian could hear Aria whisper to him without taking her eyes away from the stormtroopers, "Cassian, run."

Cassian looked at her to protest and quicker than he could even process it, Aria pulled out her blaster from her holster and fired it at one of the stormtroopers. It missed them but they suddenly raised their blasters at them and aimed to fire. "Stop right there!" They shouted and opened fire on Cassian and Aria.

"Run! Go! Go!" Aria shouted over as she shielded herself from the blaster fire and ran.

Cassian did the same, running down towards an alleyway near the other side of the market. He ducked into alcove whilst breathing heavily, removing his own blaster from the holster around his waist, holding it to his chest. He didn't know where Aria had gone but he assumed that she was hiding near the marketplace, which was currently filled with people and aliens running away from the blaster fire. Cassian could hear the commotion from the where he was, and a sudden surge of people ran past his hiding space.

He cautiously leaned out from the alcove, looking into the marketplace and he spotted Aria taking cover behind a fallen cart, every now and then standing up to fire at the now huge clump of stormtroopers. At this point Cassian knew this was more about the fact that they'd stolen from that girl as it was now a full on shoot out because Aria had shot at the two stormtroopers.

"Aria!" Cassian shouted over, and she turned her head, at first struggling to pinpoint where he was, then she found him. "Come on! I'll cover for you!" And he waved her over, leaning out from the alcove to aim at the stormtroopers.

He saw in the corner of his eye Aria run over, keeping her head low and dodging the large amount of people pushing and shoving to get out of the firing range, as he fired at the troopers.

When Aria had reached him, Cassian leaned down above the floor next to her, their backs pressed against the wall of the alcove. "We need to get out of here," Aria stated and stood up. "Let’s get back to the ship and get off this rock."

Cassian stood up too and followed Aria as she ran down the alleyway. They both kept their blasters close to their chests, trying not to bump into anyone as they ran.

Unexpectedly, Aria turned a corner and stopped in her tracks. Cassian nearly knocked her over as he too came to a halt.

They had clearly turned the wrong corner because at least five stormtroopers were standing in their way, blocking the alleyway. They turned and held up their blasters to Cassian and Aria.

"You two, identify-" They were cut off almost instantly as both Aria and Cassian raised their blasters and fired before they could react. All five troopers fell to the ground.

Cassian lowered his blaster and looked at the lifeless bodies. It wasn't the first time he'd killed. Aria said it would get easier, but he still hadn't gotten used to it yet. He didn't know if he would ever get used to it. Cassian's contemplation was interrupted however as he heard one of the stormtroopers com-links go off and a voice came through. "SE-2218, what is your update on the suspects?" Silence. "SE-2218, come in. What's your position?"

Aria started to back away. "We need to go. Now."

Cassian stood, listening to the com, staring at the bodies. He heard Aria's footsteps get smaller as she ran away. Cassian's brow scrunched up as he looked up and his face immediately diffused as he saw the woman, the hooded beggar women, from before standing meters away from him on the other side of the alley.

She did nothing but look at him, a neutral expression on her face. Cassian's eyes widened, not sure if she was really there or if he was imagining it, and he opened his mouth to say something to her when Aria's shouts stopped him. He spun round and saw Aria standing at the end of the other alleyway. "Cassian! Come on!"

Cassian turned back round to see if woman was still there but to his utter shock she had disappeared. If she was really there, where did she go?

" _Cassian!_ " Aria shouted over again, more desperately this time and once again he made a split-second decision to forget about the woman as he ran over to Aria and they sprinted around a corner, down another alleyway.

That was the last time Cassian saw that woman. He wanted to tell Aria about the encounters, but he thought that she'd just brush them off, tell Cassian he’s other thinking things and label the women as crazy, which she probably was, but at that point in time Cassian was still intrigued.

A small part of him recalled the sternness in her eyes and the way she had held onto his arm like her life depended on it. _Fulcrum_. He still had no idea what that had meant, and Cassian came to the conclusion that's he'd probably never find out.

Over time Cassian eventually forgot about his time on that unknown planet and he and Aria planet jumped on her ship once again, getting by, pickpocketing strangers and stealing from market stalls. They kept out of sight of stormtroopers and decided that if they kept their heads down, they'd stay out of trouble. They eventually became two more figures in the crowd.

However, Cassian always had a gut feeling, a feeling that told him that someone was watching him. Sometimes he'd look up and he thought he'd see someone looking at him from across a crowded space, staring at him as if he was the only person around. Sometimes he felt as though someone was always walking behind him as though they were trying to catch up with him, but never reaching him. This feeling cropped up every now and then and Cassian just put it down go paranoia. He'd been keeping himself to himself long enough to accept it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him, but that nagging feeling was always there.

It tugged at him, following him.

In the end Cassian started to ignore that feeling and he felt better for it. After all, who would pay attention to someone as unimportant as him? Cassian Jeron Andor. That name didn't mean anything to anyone. It held no importance.

And Cassian intended to keep it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment or a kudos :)
> 
> Till next time! ❤️


End file.
